Sustainable in the Sierras: A Solar-Powered Home in Northern California
(Page 2 of 3)
March/April 2009
By Cheryl Weber
Here comes the sun
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Ed and Shannon love the way their house looks, but they’re even more pleased with how it’s powered. A 3-kilowatt photovoltaic system (18 solar panels) produces more than 425 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, enough to supply most of the household’s energy needs. They spent about $10,000 on the solar collectors after a 50 percent rebate from the state of California.
The sun also heats water, stored in an 80-gallon tank on the roof. An on-demand tankless water heater backs up the solar system on cloudy days. At a cost of about $3,500 for the solar water heater and $1,800 for the tankless heater, the components have a relatively long payback, but Ed deems the constant, efficient supply of hot water “awesome.”
A 90 percent-efficient boiler feeds the radiant in-floor heating system, and a cast aluminum heat exchanger transfers heat up to three times faster than traditional cast-iron exchangers. To cool the house, the Welches opted for an evaporative cooling system, which costs less to operate than refrigerant air-conditioning. It works by pulling fresh outside air through moist pads, where it’s cooled and circulated throughout the house.
No doubt the best payback, though, is living in a comfortable home that doesn’t use more resources than necessary. “California has a lot of population infringing on the environment, especially in our area,” Ed says. “We wanted to integrate as many green elements as we could into our house because conservation is vital for the health of our planet and our future.”
Cheryl Weber is a writer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she is greening her family’s 1935 home.
A chat with the homeowner
What’s great about where you live?
Ed Welch: Here in the Sierra Nevada foothills, at an elevation of 2,500 feet, we’re just below the snow cover for five months out of the year, which is great for skiing and hiking. We also can get to urban areas easily. It’s an hour to Sacramento and two and a half hours to the San Francisco Bay Area.
What item do you wish you had splurged on?
Ed: I would have put in a geothermal system. My research at the time told me it was still too expensive for a reasonable payback. From what I know now, that’s true only if you don’t include the cooling function.
What was the lowest moment in the design and build process?
Ed: During the cold, wet winter I was putting up the cedar shingles. It took two months, working with one other person, dodging the rain and placing each piece individually—an insane amount of time to be pecking at those things.
If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be?